


The Stroke of Midnight

by SonjaJade



Category: Trigun
Genre: F/M, Marriage Proposal, New Year's Eve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 20:58:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9141934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: What can you give to the person to whom you owe everything?





	

New Year’s Eve raged in the streets of… whatever town they were in.  Was it Little City?  Maybe Juneora Rock?  Really, it didn’t matter- it was the end of the old year and the beginning of the new on every square inch of Gunsmoke.  And so the people partied and cheered and celebrated, exchanged gifts and shared feasts and alcohol alike.  
  
As for Wolfwood, he was counting his blessings that he’d survived the ordeal with Chapel the Evergreen.  If it hadn’t been for Vash’s quick thinking that night he nearly died in that dusty church, he wouldn’t be sucking wind today.  
  
But there was also something else he was grateful for, someone that he hit his knees and thanked God for every morning and every night, and that was for the love of the brunette woman who’d stolen his heart, a tall, sweet insurance adjuster that had more family than anyone else he’d ever met.  
  
Her kindness and genuineness gave him a reason to keep living after his survival.  In his mind, though he managed to cheat death, trouble would follow him everywhere for the rest of his days for it.  It took him months to even reconnect with Milly, to let her know he wasn’t dead, that he still thought of her all the time, that he cherished the memory of the night they’d spent together in his bed before he rushed off to be shot full of holes.  
  
When he did finally reunite with her, Milly had been beside herself with joyful tears, asking if there was anything she could do to tend to him, to help him heal up, to be as close to normal as he could be.  Her warmth and cheerfulness brought a smile back to his face, and time seemed to fix the rest.  Trouble didn’t come after him, and he decided to make his way back to December to take care of the orphans he’d been gathering before meeting Vash and running headlong into the Gung-Ho Guns.  
  
And Milly said she was coming with him, just to help get him back on his feet there and be sure the kids wouldn’t send him into some kind of medical malady that would put him back into the grave.  
  
He stood at the door of the hotel they were staying in.  The sights and sounds of New Year’s were all around him- and he didn’t have a thing to give the woman he loved so much, or any clue what he should give her in the first place.  He thought about ammunition or a cleaning kit for her gigantic stun gun she kept hidden in her trench coat.  He thought about a sparkling piece of jewelry, about something to put in her gorgeous, soft hair.  But being a priest, he didn’t have much money, and he wasn’t sure she want any of those things anyway.  
  
He decided he’d take her into town and let her point out things she liked.  When she returned from using the phone at the bar, he offered her his arm, asking, “Care to go into the streets and celebrate the New Year?”  
  
Her smile warmed his soul.  “That sounds wonderful, Mr. Priest!  Of course, I’d love to go!”  
  
People were singing, drinking and drunk, laughing and full of the spirit of the holiday.  People shoved wrapped packages at each other and squealed at the surprises hidden in the paper and ribbons.  Gunfire rang out to herald the new year and whoops and shouts echoed between the buildings.  
  
Milly laughed as she squeezed his arm.  “I love how happy everyone is at New Year’s!  Everyone knows they get a second chance at anything they want!  It’s nice to feel that free at the beginning of a fresh start!”  
  
He felt his lips curling as he watched her reactions to the guy on the unicycle just ahead of them, breathing fire and juggling.  “Yeah, new beginnings are really something.”  
  
She turned to face him, her features serious.  “You got one heck of a new beginning, Mr. Priest.  I’m sure you’ve already said your prayers of thanks; I know I have.  I’m grateful that you’re still here.”  She patted his arm with her other hand.  “The New Year will be perfect, simply because you’ll be in it.”  
  
Wolfwood gazed into her eyes, sparkling with the reflections of fireworks and festive lanterns hanging around them.  “Milly… you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”  
  
Her cheeks flushed briefly, then her smile returned and she started them down the street again.  “I’m glad I make you happy.”  
  
He shook his head, his free hand coming up to cover hers.  “You don’t just make me happy, sweetheart.  You make me ecstatic, jubilant, felicitous…  If it weren’t for you,” he trailed off, not sure how to put into words just how important she was to him.  Not wanting to make such a confession in the middle of the revelers, he guided them to a scraggly tree that seemed to be forgotten at the end of the road.  Wolfwood untangled their arms and took both her hands in his, looking down and watching how easily she accepted him holding her hands in public.  
  
He licked his lips and just started talking.  He told her how she made him feel, how much he cared for her, how much he missed her in the months they were apart, how lucky he considered himself to be to get a second chance at living, if nothing else to give back some of what she gave to him.  
  
“You are my greatest blessing,” he declared in the moonlight as the clock tower began to ring the New Year in.  
  
“Mr. Priest,” Milly whispered.  He saw the sparkle of tears forming in her eyes and he squeezed her hands.  
  
“I don’t have a proper gift for you, Milly.  There’s nothing in this world I could give you that would be worth what you deserve.”  He reached up and cupped her face, watching as she closed her eyes at his touch.  Her tears spilled down her face and he thumbed them away.  “Even offering to give you the rest of my life isn’t enough, but that’s what I want to give you for New Year’s.  I’ll give you the rest of my everything, just let me stay with you fo-”  
  
She cut him off, throwing her arms around him and kissing his chapped lips.  It didn’t take him long to do the same in return.  As they embraced in the street, fireworks and shouts filled the air as the clock finished tolling midnight.  Milly broke their kiss to tuck her head under his chin.  
  
“It’s the best gift I’ve ever had, Mr. Priest.  I’ll cherish it always and forever.”  
  
He chuckled as he kissed the top of her head.  “One thing, though- no more Mr. Priest, okay?  You can call me Nicholas.”  He whispered in her ear, “Especially when we’re _alone.._.”  
  
She gasped, her hand coming to cover her mouth.  “That’s right, we haven’t done _that_ since before you nearly died!  Gosh, it’s been so long ago-”  His eyes widened when she grabbed his hand in hers and she started tugging him down the street back toward town.  
  
“That impatient?” he asked as he hurried along behind her.  
  
“That can be my gift to you!”  
  
He smirked at the sky, saying, “Our Lord in heaven, thank you for this woman and everything she does!”  
  
Wolfwood began to run, sweeping Milly up into his arms as they went, and sneaking kisses until they made it back to the hotel.


End file.
